This was the focus of a recent INCON Board workshop in Athens, where senior leaders from the global partnership used LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® to explore what an aspirational workplace for PCOs should look like. The format may have been creative, but the discussion was practical: how do PCOs create the conditions for people to perform, grow and stay?
For Nicky McGrane, Chair of INCON and CEO of Conference Partners International, the urgency is clear. “The pressure is no longer just operational, it’s human,” she says. “Hybrid ways of working are embedded, expectations have shifted and the cost of getting culture and leadership wrong shows up quickly in retention, performance and wellbeing. We needed a shared view of what ‘thriving’ actually looks like for PCO teams now.”
From Delivery Pressure to People Pressure
PCOs have always operated in high-pressure environments. Complex stakeholder management, intense timelines and international delivery are part of the job. What has changed is the expectation employees bring to that environment.
The workshop identified a shared model of the future workplace built around clear purpose, supportive leadership, access to knowledge, strong team culture, openness to innovation and the right people in the right roles. It also highlighted the need for boundaries, resilience, curiosity, well-being and spaces where people can recharge.
For McGrane, this reflects a wider shift in what motivates talent. “People want more than a busy job and good intent,”she says. “They want clarity, autonomy, development and trust. Motivation isn’t driven by perks; it’s driven by feeling valued, having boundaries and seeing a future for yourself in the organisation.”
Trust as the Hardest Part
Among the themes explored in Athens – purpose, knowledge-sharing, flexible leadership and trust – McGrane sees trust as the hardest to get right. “Trust is earned in the small moments, especially across hybrid teams,” she says. “You can write purpose on a slide and build systems for knowledge-sharing, but trust depends on consistency: clear expectations, supportive leadership, and people feeling safe to speak up and experiment.”
This is where the discussion moves beyond workplace policy. Hybrid work, flexible leadership and technology all depend on a level of confidence between leaders and teams. The shared model built by INCON board members pointed to a workplace that is both people-centric and process-driven. PCO teams need room to think, learn and adapt, but they also need frameworks that give clarity and reduce friction.
Technology as Support, Not Pressure
Technology was part of the discussion, but not as a standalone solution. The workshop’s “solutions” landscape included the idea of connecting people and technology, with a focus on whether teams have the capacity to use available tools in the best possible way.
McGrane is clear that this requires discipline from leaders. “Treat tech as a supporting mechanism, not a performance monitor,” she says. “Start with the work and the pain points, simplify processes, train people properly, and remove tools that create noise.”
Her point is simple: “Does it reduce friction and free up time for thinking, relationships and delivery, or does it just speed up burnout?”
The sector is being asked to deliver more data, more personalisation, more hybrid capability and more measurable value. But if technology is layered onto already stretched teams without training, simplification or clear purpose, it risks becoming another source of pressure rather than a tool for progress.
What Changes on Monday
The value of the Athens workshop was not in producing a perfect model of the future workplace. It was in turning a broad challenge into a practical leadership agenda.
For McGrane, the next step is to “define a small set of guiding principles and then choose two or three actions we can implement immediately around leadership behaviours, knowledge access, and creating space for learning and reflection.”As she puts it: “The value of the workshop is the shared model; the value of leadership is what we change on Monday.”